Defecator.



M. B. CRESSWELL.

DEFECATOR. APPLICAT'O'N FILED APR- 4. WM,

. 4 997 Patented Apr. 13, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1. O Y '2 THE NORRIS PETERS 60.. PHOTO-LITHO.. WASHINGTON. D.

M. B. CRESSWELL.

DEFECATOR.-

APPLICATION FILED APR". 4. 1914.

1,1 34,997, Patenfedl Apr. 13, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

THE NORRIS PETERS 60.. PHOTO-LIIHO. WASHINGTON. D. C

MILTON B. cREssw LL, or nus Momns, IOWA.

DEFECATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

v Application filed April 4, 1914. Serial No. 830,064.

To all wh0m it may concern i Be 1t known that I, MILTON B. CREssWELL, citizen of the United States of America, and

resident of Des Moines, Polk county, Iowa,

have invented a new and useful Defecator, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to provide an improved construction for defecators for refining syrups.

A further object of this invention is to provide improved means for removing the scum from sorghum juice during the operation of boiling.

.A further object of this invention is to provide improved means for] initiating the process of clarifying juice in a single treat ment without the use of lime or other 'foreign substances; i

A further object of this invention is to provide improved means for removingthe impurities from sorghum juice in a tank by boiling in one end and skimming in the opportion of the tank. Fig. 4 is an elevation of a paddle or scraperemployed in removing scum.

This invention relates to and is an improvement on devices illustrated, described and claimed in Letters Patent of the United States Number 1,075,629 granted to me October 14, 1913, to which patent reference I hereby is made.

In the construction of the apparatus as shown the numeral 10 designates generally an open tank or pan, which may be of any.

desired dimensions, and supported in any suitable manner. A steam. pipe 11, fitted with a cut-off valve 12, leads from a source of steam supply (not shown) and enters the tank 10 at one end, over the top thereof.

The steam pipe 11 communicates with a steam coil 13 which lies near the bottom of the tank 10 and extends entirely across said tank and approximately one-half the length thereof. One or more of the coils of the pipe 13 at its initial end preferablyextend upwardly adjacent the forward endwall of the tank 10, and are designated by the numeral 14. The steam coil 18 communicates at its inner end with a pipe .15 which leads back across the top of said coil, leads up over PatentedApr. 13,1915.

the top of the tank, is fitted with a cut-ofi l valve 17, and leads thence to a suitable place of exhaust. The tank 10 is provided, at its end opposite tothe steam coils 13, 14, with a plurality of transverse partitions 18, 19, 20, in thls instance three in number, which divide that end portion of the tank into a 3 plurality of narrow transverse chambers.

The partitions 18 to 20 inclusive are relatively low, being preferably about one-third the height of the walls of the tank. An in v clined bafie plate 22 is fixed transversely of the tank 10 beyond the last partition 20, thus forming a scum compartment 23 at the 8X. treme end of said tank. The baffle plate 22 preferably is of greater height than the partitions 18 to 20 inclusive but of less height than the walls of the tank, preferably about two-thirds the height of said walls. Discharge pipes 24, 25, 26 lead from the bottom of the tank 10 beyond the respective partitions 18, 19, 20, and a discharge pipe 27 leads from the bottom of the scum cham ber 23. The discharge pipes 24, 25, 26, 27 r lead into a common pipe 28,0ontrolledby av valve 29 between the pipes 26,27, which pipe leads to a suitable place of discharge,

such as a sewer. The passage of the pipes 24, 25, 26, 27 through the bottom of the tank 10 is made water-tight, preferably by the use of lock nuts 'on opposite sides of said bottom? A pipe 30 leads from the forward portion of the bottom of thetanklO to a suitableplace of discharge of semi-syrup, such as a finishingfevaporator (not shown). The pipe" 30 is controlled by a cut-off valve 31.

In the practical'use of the apparatusjuice to be defecated is introduced to the tank 10 in any desiredmanner, as by pouring or piping. Steam is admitted to the pipe 11 by opening the valve 12, and passes thence to the coils 13, 14 and pipe 15. The heating of the coils 18, 14 by the live steam starts a current-in the juice in the tank toward the rear thereof, and the arrangement of said coils results in a current rearwardly at the top of the bodyof juice. As the juice-passes toward the rear portion of the tank and over the partitions 18 to 20 inclu si-ve, the heavier particles of impurities carried thereby will sink and be received between said partitions, and there held. The juice then encounters the baffle plate 22 and the scum thereon may be removed by a pad dle in the hands of an operator, who scrapes it over said bathe plate into the scum chamber 23. A convenient form of paddle for this purpose is, shown in Fig. i, the handle 32 being fixed at an angle to the blade 38, so that in operation the blade may be readily held in horizontal position and swung gently across the top of the juice. Then it encounters the baiiie plate 22, the current of juice is directed downwardly and returns on a lower plane toward the coils 13, 14, where it again rises and starts in the opposite direction. This operation is continued until the juice has lost the greater part of its impurities and is in the condition known as semisyrup. The semi-syrup is then drawn off through the pipe for further treatment in other devices (not shown) such as a finisher, where the refining is completed. The low partitions 18 to 20 inclusive provide quiet places for the collection of heavy impurities and sediment, and the juice containing such impurities, and remaining in and behind said partitions, together with the scum in the chamber 23, mav

be drawn off through the pipes 24L, 25, 26, 2 and 28, after the defecating operation is completed. Such sediment as remains behind the partitions 18 to 20 inclusive may then be removed by means of shovels or scraped to the drain pipes and removed by flushing. Scum from the chamber 23 is free to flow off at all times through the pipes 27, 28.

The use of this improved apparatus obviates the use of clay or infusorial earth, lime or hand skimming in the removal of impurities from raw syrup, and removes said impurities, to an extent impossible to attain by means of the processes and devices commonly in use. The principle may be stated briefly as boiling in one end of a tank and skimming in the opposite end thereof.

An inclined hood or leaf 34: preferably is fixed to the end wall of the tank 10 over the coil 14 and projects Within said tank. It is the function of the hood or leaf 34 to prevent the syrup in the tank from boiling over the top at that end where the boiling is most severe on account of the vertical arrangement of the coil 14.

I claim as my invention 1. A defecator, comprising a tank, a steam coil in one end portion thereof, a plurality of relatively low partitions crossing said tank in the end opposite to said steam coil, and an inclined baffle plate crossing said tank beyond said partitions.

2. A defecator, comprising a tank, a steam coil in one end portion thereof, a plurality of relatively low partitions crossing said tank in the end opposite to said steam coil, and an inclined bailie plate crossing said tank beyond said partitions, said baffle plate being of greater height than said partitions and of less height than the walls of the tank.

3. A defecator, comprising a tank, a steam pipe entering said tank, a steam coil ar ranged in vertical position adjacent the forward end of said tank and connnunicating with said pipe, a steam coil arranged in horizontal position in said tank and extending approximately to the middle thereof, said latter steam. coil communicating with the first steam coil, an inclined hood over the vertical steam coil, and skimming means in the opposite end portion of the tank from said coils.

4. A defecator, comprising a tank, steam coils in one end portion thereof, a plurality of partitions crossing the opposite end portion of said tank, said partitions rising to approximately one-third the height of the tank walls, an inclined baffle plate crossing the tank beyond said partitions and rising to approximately two-thirds the height of the tank walls, and drain pipes beyond said partitions and baflie plate.

Signed by me at Des Moines, Iowa, this twentieth day of December, 1913.

' MILTON B. CRESSWELL.

Witnesses:

EARL M. SINCLAIR, W. W. FINK.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

